My Wife is Gone But I Still Have My Fly Rod

By Vaughn Pemberton

Only in my case I knew her all too well! Early on in our marriage
I learned she was putting on a act when we were just dating, and
as time went on I learned just about all there was to know about
her, and it wasn't very pretty. Now, she claimed she knew how to
fish, but that also was just a act. She knew how to cast a rod
and reel and was able to put a worm on a hook and fish with a bobber,
so when we went fishing together I took my spinning outfit and cast
plugs for bass. In those days there was not a size limit on bass and
most places was fished out, so me not catching hardly anything or
nothing at all did not show up her lack of fishing skills.

When I went fishing by myself I would take my fly rod and would
bring home a nice stringer of bluegills. One day she asked me,
"Why don't you take your fly rod and fish for bluegills instead
of bass? " Well, I did and it was the last time we went fishing
together.

We had gone to a new place and I found a bluegill bed bigger than
I had seen since I had owned my fly rod. Bluegills seemed to be
waiting in line to jump on my fly while my wife could hardly get
a bite, so she says, "let's go," and I said, "this is food for
the table." As a young couple we were on a limited budget and
the fish was a big help. I told her I will pitch them on the bank
and you put them in the live bag, she did for a short while, but
she thought I was having too much fun, so she broke into tears
and I had to take her home.

My wife could not stand to see me enjoying myself doing anything,
so I practiced some catch and release and. . . Let HER Go.

I spent the next 17 years living in a small cabin, hunting, fishing
and doing as I pleased. I did finally find the right lady for me
and April 12th we celebrated our 9th anniversary. We went fishing
and we both caught the limit on crappie plus 15 nice bluegills.

Remember there is more water than land, so God intended for us
to fish more than work. ~ Vaughn Pemberton